Thursday, 1st July
Today is Territory Day, which is supposed to celebrate self government, but really means that anyone and everyone can by fireworks to let off tonight. Fireworks are being sold by gardening centres, hardware stores, a fish and chip shop is selling fireworks instead of food just for today, Chickenfeed type shops and just about anyone else who wants to, seemingly. From all accounts, the city literally goes crackers tonight. There are big notices (being totally ignored!) throughout the caravan park that fireworks must NOT be left off in the park.
This morning we decided to visit the Darwin Museum and Art Gallery. There was some fabulous Aboriginal artwork on display – really quality work. Probably the highlight of the museum was the section devoted to Cyclone Tracy. Apart from photos and story boards, there were some mock-ups of housing but the piece de résistance would have to be the sound booth. The Catholic priest at the time actually recorded the cyclone as it hit and we stood in complete darkness for three minutes, listening to the sounds. How frightening it must have been for the residents who endured this for many hours. A museum guide was telling a group about his experience during the cyclone and he was very obviously still affected emotionally by the event.
There were the expected crocodile displays, as well as a 5 metre stuffed crocodile – this really made us aware as to how big the crocodiles were yesterday! We wandered through a display of artwork done by year 12 students of the Territory (some great stuff on display!) before heading into the maritime museum section. Not only was there a pearling lugger, but a Vietnamese refugee boat, numerous types of seized Indonesian fishing boats, as well as a large number of various types of dugouts. Cat really enjoyed himself in this area.
This afternoon it was back to our favourite shop, Telstra, to collect the new mobile telephone. A very nice young man made this a quite painless experience – let’s hope we don’t have any problems with it. Fortunately, the old phone is still in good working order and can be used again if necessary. I do get some new ring tones, though!
Today is Territory Day, which is supposed to celebrate self government, but really means that anyone and everyone can by fireworks to let off tonight. Fireworks are being sold by gardening centres, hardware stores, a fish and chip shop is selling fireworks instead of food just for today, Chickenfeed type shops and just about anyone else who wants to, seemingly. From all accounts, the city literally goes crackers tonight. There are big notices (being totally ignored!) throughout the caravan park that fireworks must NOT be left off in the park.
This morning we decided to visit the Darwin Museum and Art Gallery. There was some fabulous Aboriginal artwork on display – really quality work. Probably the highlight of the museum was the section devoted to Cyclone Tracy. Apart from photos and story boards, there were some mock-ups of housing but the piece de résistance would have to be the sound booth. The Catholic priest at the time actually recorded the cyclone as it hit and we stood in complete darkness for three minutes, listening to the sounds. How frightening it must have been for the residents who endured this for many hours. A museum guide was telling a group about his experience during the cyclone and he was very obviously still affected emotionally by the event.
There were the expected crocodile displays, as well as a 5 metre stuffed crocodile – this really made us aware as to how big the crocodiles were yesterday! We wandered through a display of artwork done by year 12 students of the Territory (some great stuff on display!) before heading into the maritime museum section. Not only was there a pearling lugger, but a Vietnamese refugee boat, numerous types of seized Indonesian fishing boats, as well as a large number of various types of dugouts. Cat really enjoyed himself in this area.
This afternoon it was back to our favourite shop, Telstra, to collect the new mobile telephone. A very nice young man made this a quite painless experience – let’s hope we don’t have any problems with it. Fortunately, the old phone is still in good working order and can be used again if necessary. I do get some new ring tones, though!
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